Is it worth the $320.00 the factory charges and does it perform?

 

What are you looking for--dancing, singing, playing the piano? Not good at any of these, and stand-up is completely out.
For $200 you can get the M7 STB--I don't see why you'd pay the extra 60%, but if you like Craptastic, go for it.

cheers,

 

Three words. Trouble free installation. M7 is a nice unit that doesn't always fit without having to remove stuff.

 

Totally agree...

 

The M7 went right on where I could not get the JCW to fit

 

Opposite experience here. The M7 would not fit either my '05 or '06 without the hood sticking up about a 1/4 inch. And I wasn't willing to start slicing into my hood liner. I am funny that way. I think parts should fit as advertised. The JCW bar slid right in. No issues.

Just goes to prove, once again that one man's gold is another man's trash. The JCW SB was worth the extra $$$ to me.

 

Hmm... I had no issues... I did like the look of the JCW.... I saw a few that I thought were not made well (sloppy welds)but then I saw several that looked very nice...... I'm not sure if the sub-par units were early or not... If you go JCW you might want to take it out of the box and inspect it at the dealer...my problem was the Unichip harness and I think at that time the Alta box......

 

That makes sense. Pretty sure Mr. Cooper is not making his stuff to fit over other AM parts. He seems funny that way.

 

 

I totally agree, my JCW brace went on 123. I don't care how nice or less expensive another product is, it should fit properly! BTW you can find it for significantly less $$ on ebay from Morristown Mini!

 

Sorry to Bust on you all, but the unlike the M7 brace that rubs up a little on the foam on your hood the JCW brace does not. If you read the Instructions for both is an easy Install, also the kit that comes with the JCW is a lot nicer, the brace falls through some sleaves and the top nuts have a blue seal for lock tight.
You can get the JCW at this site MorrisTown Mini. You can get it through their E-Bay Store of Call them Directly.

JCW Strut Bar will Run you $240. It is also a Factory part for BMW and you will not get any slack from them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JCW-J...5321QQtcZphoto

ENJOY......!!!!!

 

Regardless if it stiffens anything or just looks nice, the potential problem with this brace (an early version) and all of the others I’ve seen (I'm not alone with this observation) is the lack of thread purchase by the nut on the stock guide support studs. Due to the tapered stud design there should be a few threads showing above the nut. I have not seen the “blue seal” nut mentioned above or a recent JCW brace model to know if that has been corrected. Anyway, this should also be a consideration when making your decision.

 

Don't forget the "real deal" JCM bar. I believe it is much cheaper than the JCW bling bar, even including shipping across the pond.

 

This is good to know... I really want a few of the CF parts

 

K

The Blue Seal is inside the Threated Nut. Also the Nuts have a bottom base that gets tight before you even start to see the bolt come out on the TOP. I've attached the Install PDF for those who are curious about the hardware.

http://motoringfile.com/files/JCW_Strut_Brace.pdf

ENJOY...!!!!

 

Ok, I assume it is a nylon thread lock. You have just confirmed there is not complete purchase of the guide support stud threads by all of the nut threads with that bar installed and the nylon thread lock will not be effective.

 

The JCW strut brace nuts are all-metal. The blue stuff is simply Locktite.

 

Nylon thread lock refers to a nylon ring on the end of the nut that does the same thing as a thread locking bond. Now we'll assume that it is a blue colored thread locker within the nut threads as per your description.